How do I reach more peers?

[bozko]

I've been using BT (and Transmission) for a number of years, but I confess that I've not really learned much about it or the underlying technologies. Hence, my question: when looking at the "Peers" pane of the inspector tool, I often get info at the bottom of the pane saying, "9 connected, 1 cache, 8 PEX, DL from 4, 364 known", but I've no idea why I can't reach those other 364 (or whatever) peers; why is that? I know what all the indicators are (i.e., DL, PEX, cache, etc.), but why I can see but not connect to 364 peers, I've no idea. FYI, I've set all my d/l and u/l parameters to the max (in terms of peer connections, d/l and u/l slots, bandwidth allowed--you name it). Finally, it'd be good to know exactly what those little padlocks are within the client entries. Please don't say RTFM, as I've tried, and it's a headache

Can anybody help me with these embarrassingly simple questions?

[bozko]

Thanks very much, x190--your tips help, esp. the stop/restart trick. Logically, the stop/restart shouldn't make any difference, as pretty much all BT clients constantly poll for more peers, but alas, stop/restart does some strange, helpful voodoo.

I have PEX and DHT active. I'd love to have IPv6 active, but evidently, Comcast hasn't decided whether IPv6 will enhance its profits, so that's not available where I am. BTW, I could swear that Comcast does, despite FCC actions forbidding it, throttle BT traffic. I pay over $60 a month to be abused by those creeps.

I also see that 25 ppl have read this post, yet I find it hard to believe that only one person can answer these simple questions. So please, friends, reply if you have any insights on this.

TIA.